Hey, a namsepaces discussoin! (Was: Re: Partitioning the image (was Re:Shrinking sucks!))

Alan Lovejoy squeak-dev.sourcery at forum-mail.net
Sat Feb 12 03:12:38 UTC 2005



So, certain parities who shall remain nameless (pun intended) have nailed
their thesis to the door: Namespaces Considered Harmful.

My response: If multiple, separate namespaces are so bad, then they should
be removed from Squeak, utterly and completely.  Specifically: 

1. Each class should not have its own class pool. Class variables should be
declared in the SystemDictionary.
2. Pool dictionaries should be eliminated, since they are actually just
separate namespaces.
3. Instance variables should also all be declared in the SystemDictionary,
since class variable scoping is also nothing more than a separate namespace.
4. Method arguments and temporaries should also all be declared in the
SystemDictionary, for the same reasons as given above.
5. The instance methods of SystemDictionary should all be converted into
class methods, since there is never any reason to have more than one
SystemDictionary object.

As a side benefit, this would make Smalltalk a lot more like the original
BASIC language, and so perhaps make the language both simpler and more
popular.  What's not to like? 

I move that all in agreement with the "Namespaces Considered Harmful" thesis
should immediately volunteer to implement this proposal.

--Alan




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